Escape Road Trip - Day Three & Four

Tuesday, August 1st - We took the ferry from Kingston over to Edmonds and headed for the Canadian border. To say we were excited is quite an understatement! We were also a little bit nervous. After all these months of planning, would the trailer be everything that we envisioned? Would we have all the essential "stuff" to camp for the next five nights? Did we have all our paperwork, cashier's check, passports, etc. for the actual purchase? Ok, maybe Rod wasn't nervous, but I was. Not only have I never backed up a trailer, I've never even pulled one!

I'm not sure why this shows such a long passage, but it's really only about 30 minutes from terminal to terminal.  It was a pretty crossing, although a bit hazy, and Mount Rainier was hiding.

We stopped for lunch at Coconut Kenny's in Bellingham and I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a mediocre sandwich shop, but my Boogie Board sandwich was delicious! The Hawaiian bread they bake fresh every day is to die for. Next time, we'll have to try their pizza!

Not too much of a line. We may have waited 10 or 15 minutes total.

We were bringing in the limit of allowed alcohol (2 bottles of wine per person), we weren't carrying any firearms, and we had our passports and yet, I was still nervous. These guys never smile and don't take off their sunglasses. I was actually surprised that the Canadian guard was more hardcore than his U.S. counterpart. I was driving, so I had to answer all his questions. I can't remember what he asked, but the subject of bear spray came up. I wasn't sure what we had since Rod had purchased it, so I had to look. I felt like saying, "I'm reaching down for the spray now." I didn't want him to think I was reaching for a gun! We also had to explain why we visiting Canada and how long we would be staying. He wanted to know how we were planning to pay for the trailer. Guess he wanted to know if we had a bunch of cash on us. I was glad when he waved us on.

After checking into our hotel, we decided to drive by the factory and take a little peek. We didn't stick around since our orientation appointment wasn't until the next morning. 

Wednesday, August 2nd - After a long day, we are finally proud owners of a 19 foot Escape Trailer! And, more importantly, I drove it from Sumas, Washington (where the Escape folks transferred ownership to us, so we wouldn't have to take it through customs) to our K.O.A. campsite in Lynden, Washington. All of 18 miles. Thankfully, our site was a pull-thru and not one I had to back into. Baby steps.

We had a very thorough two-hour orientation with the folks at Escape and after making our final payment, we headed back to the border crossing. All went well going back into the U.S. (phew!) and we met the delivery driver with the trailer in Sumas. I backed the truck up to the hitch without any trouble and we were on our way! It was very hot (96 degrees) and smoky (from the fires in British Columbia) and that beer tasted really good. 

Two out of three are Canadians.

2 propane tanks in front. Electric trailer jack. Rock guard over the dinette window. Side windows are in the dinette and bedroom.

Another bedroom window at the back. Small window by the door is over the kitchen sink. Rod is hooking up the water and has a pressure regulator to attach to the hose.

There's a receiver on the back of the bumper for a bike rack, which we'll eventually get. Nice to have bikes to ride for fun, as well as scout out areas for boondocking before actually pulling the trailer down an unknown road.

This K.O.A. is so pretty. Lots of trees and a couple of nice lakes for fishing or paddleboats. The ducks and geese seemed to enjoy the cool water. There's also a miniature golf course, a pool, a playground and a sand volleyball court. We arrived on a Wednesday and it was surprisingly peaceful, in spite of all the small children and dogs. It really only began to get noisy on Friday afternoon when the weekend crowd started to show up. We could put up with that for a night since we knew we were leaving in the morning, but we agreed we wouldn't want to make a habit of camping at a K.O.A. on a weekend.

Our site with full hookups for three nights. The back window is where the bed is. We didn't really need the awning, since we were in the shade, but we wanted to test it out. It has a wind sensor and retracts when it gets too windy.

You didn't really think he was retired, did you? Maybe from his 9-5 job, but he's picked up some freelance work and had a deadline. At least he doesn't have to wear a suit and tie anymore!

August 1-2, 2017
Kingston, Washington to Chilliwack, British Columbia to Lynden, Washington

Click on the photos for a larger view of the image.